WAKE UP FUCKERS! - Fields not really getting any reps with the 1s despite killing it in practice. - Jenkins back problems are worrisome....as is Tarik Cohen still limping on the sideline. - Larry Borom has reportedly looked very good and is slimmer and faster. - Nagy is still Nagy. Everyone I know that has seen practice is reporting a lot of odd packages and trickery bullshit. - Dalton has been mostly good, as a veteran should be, but is getting picked off by Jaylon Johnson daily.
Also saw on twitter on ex Eagles coach Doug Pederson is at Bears camp today dressed in Bears colors.... Looking for confirmation but I trust the person that tweeted it.
This is the part that's so scary to me. No NFL OT's, and now the guy they're counting on it out and it's looking bad. They've gotta talk up Borom because they genuinely don't have anyone else on the roster. F***, Pace. Yup, Nagy gonna do his thing. And the problem with that latter statement is I don't know whether that's on Nagy, Dalton, or Jaylon. Because we've seen the first not know how to manage QB's/an offense, we've seen Dalton be up and down, and we've seen Jaylon go nuts on people. I haven't been following too closely because my blood pressure can't take it. I'm just waiting for the games and hoping they give me some relief.
I try to take training camp now with a grain of salt, especially with Fields. Recall too many times in 2017 with Mitch how every day/practice was always seemingly a good or great day for Mitch throwing, and nobody ever really said anything bad about him (seeing a lot of parallels with Fields now)--and look where we are in 2021. All those great training camp throws from Mitch have landed him as a back up in Buffalo. Also--too many tweets about "pretty deep balls" from Andy Dalton when he's not going to be doing that. The OL is a big problem, especially today. Jenkins is already out with a back issue, Borom and Lachevious Simmons are both in concussion protocol, and Germain Ifedi is out with a hip flexor injury per Mark Grote of AM670. The bears' OL in camp is so short-staffed they cannot run 2 units/starters and scout team for Defense at the same time. Alex Bars is with 1st team at LT, and reportedly the bears are checking on Russell Okung--who's also injured--but I wouldn't mind under the premise that he can't be counted on to play a full season anymore. Really starting to think not getting Morgan Moses to sign on the dotted line a few weeks back may come to bite Pace in the ass, but then I remembered the OL is seldom a priority for him. Pederson was at practice just as a guest/observer, also per Mark Grote. What I want to know: How will Nagy split up preseason playing time for the QBs? In a perfect world, Dalton gets 1st quarter, Fields gets 2 and 3, and Foles gets the 4th. Knowing Nagy--He'll do some cute shit like Fields will get one play at the end of the 1st half, take a knee to run out the clock, then get the 4th. The Colts and Jets both have a need at QB and Nick Foles is still a bear why?
I said at the time the Bears dropped the ball on Moses and that is really sticking out now. I'm sure somewhere deep in his playbook he has a package where he puts all 3 QBs on the field at the same time.
By what week do we think we'll see Fields and Dalton on the field at the same time for a play? I say by week 5, but that might be too conservative.
I just paid my NFL Gamepass for the year, with great angst. If the first play is some trick s*** with both QB's, I will immediately dispute that payment with my bank and take Nagy to hell with me.
I dread Dalton starting and Fields getting hurt on some gimmick run because Nagy tries to use him like Taysom Hill or something. It's been in the back of my mind since we drafted him. Obviously, he could get hurt just as easily being the #1 QB.....but if we lost him on a gimmick play it would just piss me off like nothing before.
So apparently the bears signed Alec Ogletree who hasn't been half bad at ILB in camp. I'd be more excited if this was 2016 when the bears signed him but so it goes... They'll probably run it sooner rather than later, but I'll bet this formation comes out against the Lions, and it will almost work short of a stupid drop before their new coach starts biting kneecaps. I'll go week 3/4 against the Browns or Lions. I think game 1 against the Rams is going to be a shitshow, especially since I don't know who's going to block Aaron Donald. I'd love to see Jenkins stuff Leonard Floyd but no clue if/when Jenkins comes back. I think Nagy will engage his inner meatball and let Dalton have a revenge game against Cinci week 2, probably with a bunch of unnecessary switcheroo formations.
I have been called a lot of things but certainly, that wasn't one of them. I haven't made any plans to visit the training camp this season, and most likely won't. With the price of ammo being what it is, I don't think so. After the last few years on social media, I'm numb to any barbs tossed my way. I just don't give a fuck what anybody thinks or says. As far as the Bears go last year I had only a mild interest in this team, and this year, it's less than mild. I've already written Fields off as a bust because being a Bears fan my entire life I've been conditioned for failure at this position. As Pat pointed out we heard good things about Mitch in camp just as we are hearing now about Fields, I was a widespread purveyor of puffery bullshit when I saw Mitch in camp that first year with his accuracy. Yeah, but when the bar was set with Glennon and Buttfumble there was nowhere to go but up. I really hope I'm wrong, but history says the odds are in my favor.
Found him! I get where you're coming from, Tuna. And I'm not far off. The roster that Pace built is just disgusting in so many ways, mostly because he did things that even we all knew were going to be mistakes ahead of time, and... we were right. That stings. My only optimism comes from the fact that, watching college tape from both Fields and Mitch, I can confidently say that one looks like a first rounder and the other never did. Fields does come from a program that never turns out NFL QB's because they don't actually teach them to be QB's for the next level, just what they need in their system. They also don't teach them to be men who are accountable and mature enough to grow. And that scares the hell out of me. But I'm willing to give it a go. I'm willing to see what he looks like, and whether it's him, his lack of OL, or Nagy that causes him to fail if he does. My wife had to convince me into getting the NFL package this year, and because I tell the NFL I'm a world jetsetter it's only $199. And I still felt like it was a waste. The apathy has set in hard with this fan base, and it's gonna take a lot to fix that. Hopefully we have something to really look forward to in the near future.